Eyelet setting process and tool



Oct. 5, 1965 R. H. JOHNS 3,209,451

EYELET SETTING PROCESS AND TOOL Filed Aug. 25, 1963 4 2'7 INXYENTOP.

ROBERT H. JOHNS ATtoRlvEv United States Patent 3,209,451 EYELET SETTING PROCESS AND TOOL Robert H. Johns, 8'15 Fetters Mill Road, Bryn Athyn, Pa. Filed Aug. 23, 1963, *Ser. No. 304,081 3 Claims. (Cl. 29512) This invention relates to manually operated eyelet setting tools and has for an object to provide such tool which is simple, easy to operate, and quick to accomplish the setting of an eyelet in a foundation whether rigid or flexible that has been perforated to receive the tubular and unheaded end of an eyelet.

Another object is to provide a process as well as apparatus for accomplishing the foregoing advantages.

A further object is to provide a simple and manually operated process and tool that is quick acting and is not limited to such eyelet setting being accomplished near an edge portion of a perforate foundation, but may be accomplished any place a perforation is provided.

One field or application which has long needed such a manual eyelet setting process and tool is that of electrical and electronic circuit building. An eyelet is a commonly used solder terminal that has well known ad vantages of strength, small size and circuit capacity, and economy. However, to avail oneself of these virtues it has been necessary in the past to use machines for setting the eyelet in the foundation or perforate board on which the circuit is assembled. Such machines are well suited to the production of large numbers of similar boards, but are inconvenient to use when a single circuit board is assembled, tested, and modified.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 1 discloses one embodiment of the hand tool of this invention shown partly in section.

FIG. 2 shows another embodiment of this hand tool.

FIG. 3 exemplifies a further form of this tool.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal section through the lower part of the casing, eyelet, retracting stem, foundation, and abutment.

FIG. 5 is a view with the unheaded end of the eyelet after having been set.

FIG. 6 shows electrical components soldered to eyelets that have been set in a perforated board.

FIG. 1 shows a manual eyelet setting tool, consisting of a stem or pin 10 that slides longitudinally within a casing 11. A compression spring 13 exerts an outward or downward force on the sliding stem 10. The spring is positioned by thinner casing wall 12. The casing is attached to a handle 14, on top of which is a rubber heel or cushion 15. Spring 13 is seated against a recess in the lower portion of handle 14.

FIG. 2 shows an eyelet setting tool in which the retracting or sliding stem 10 is bent to form a lateral projection 16, which passes through a slot 17 in the casing 12. This side portion 16 is formed to receive a downward force from the finger or hand that holds the tool.

FIG. 3 shows an eyelet setting tool in which the sliding stem 10 has a mass 18 attached to its upper end which slides freely in the hollow tool handle 19. The sliding stem receives a downward force from the weight of the mass 18.

Such eyelet setting tools as illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3 may be used to assist in the insertion of an eyelet into a perforation in a circuit board. An eyelet may be placed over the sliding stern and guided by the stem, while the tool pushes the eyelet into the hole in a foundation or circuit board perforation. Alternatively, the setting tool may be inserted into an eylet after the eyelet has been placed in its perforation. FIG. 4 shows an eyelet 23 in place in a perforate board 21 with other such perforations 22. The headed end of the eyelet 24 is in contact with the lower portion of the tool casing and stem guide 11, and the sliding pin or stem 10 passes through the tubular portion of the eyelet, making a sliding fit through the eyelet. The tool, eyelet, and perforate board are positioned over a hard unyielding surface or anvil or abutment 20. To set the eyelet, the tool is pressed against the abutment so that the pin or stem slides upwards so that the tubular portion of the eyelet makes contact with the abutment, and a blow by hand or hammer is struck on the rubber heel 15 at the top of the tool. This force is transmitted to the head of the eyelet and thence to the shank or tubular portion, crushing and expanding the tubular portion between the perforate board and the abutment 20. As the eyelet crushes, the sliding or retracting stern prevents the eyelet metal from flowing or bending radially inwardly and keeps the hole through the eyelet open due to' the size of the stem and its flat end engaging a fiat surfaced abutment 20 to preclude any eyelet material getting between them when these flat surfaces are each normal to the stem axis as shown in the drawing, FIGS. 4 and 5. The retraction or sliding upward of the stem during the crushing or setting of the eyelet permits the impact of the blow on the handle to be absorbed chiefly by the projecting portion of the eyelet shank. FIG. 5 shows a set eyelet with its tubular portion or shank 25 crushed and expanded and the retracting stem 10. still in position inside the eyelet. The eyelet setting tool is removed from a set eyelet by lifting it up and away from the eyelet and board, the sliding stem returning to its extending position by spring force, finger pressure, or gravity, according to the various embodiments depicted in FIGS. 1 through 3.

In FIG. 6, the use of eyelets set in a perforated board as solder terminals is shown. Electrical components such as a resistor 27 and a capacitor 28 are shown with their wire leads attached by solder 29 to the eyelets 26 that are set in a perforate foundation or circuit board. Component leads and other wires 30 may either be passed through the eyelet hole or placed above or below the eyelet before soldering.

This eyelet setting process and apparatus effects a secure and rapid attachment of eyelets in a circuit board by manual operations, obviating the need for expensive and cumbersome machinery. Such manual operations are also well suited to the setting of additional eyelets in a circuit board that already has components mounted on it, without hazard to the circuitry and components previously attached.

This eyelet setting process and apparatus may be used anywhere on a foundation and is not restricted to setting eyelets near the edge of a foundation or circuit board. It is thus an improvement over a common type of eyelet tool in which the crushing force to set an eyelet is applied by a combination of levers from either side of the foundation in the fashion of a plier tool. Such hand tools are usually limited to placing eyelets near the edge of a foundation, a piece of leather or fabric, for example. That such a tool does not meet the needs of electrical circuit boards is evident from its lack of use in the electrical and electronic fields despite its long and common use in the leather and fabric arts.

Another improvement afforded by this invention is in the simplicity of apparatus required for eyelet setting. Such mechanisms commonly employ cooperating or mating elements which are brought together to crush an eyelet, such as a stem fixed in the head of a tool on one side and passing through the eyelet to enter a cooperating hole in the element on the other side. This cooperation between elements requires that they be accurately positioned with respect to one another, and if the mechanism is to set eyelets far from the edge of a foundation requires that the machine be large and strong. The present in- 3 vention overcomes these difliculties by not requiring careful alignment of the eyelet setting tool with respect to the cooperating element or abutment used to crush the eyelet. Any rigid surface will serve as this abutment.

This eyelet setting process and apparatus is also better suited to the needs of electrical circuit boards than are other common hand tools employed for setting eyelets in a foundation when only one side of the foundation is accessible. The tools may require special eyelets, special setting pins or mechanisms that need replacement with each eyelet that is set, or several operations to completely secure and set an eyelet in a foundation. Such tools have been found too tedious and intricate when setting the many eyelets usually employed for an electrical circuit. The present invention affords an easy and rapid method for setting eyelets. A reason for the stem 10 projecting out of the eyelet 23 as shown in FIG. 4 is that in this way the stem and tool may be adapted for use with a thicker foundation 21 or longer eyelet shank.

I claim:

1. A process for setting an eyelet having a flanged end and an opposite end comprising the steps of:

(a) inserting the eyelet in a perforated foundation,

(b) supporting the foundation over a flat abutment surface,

(c) slidably inserting the stem of a setting tool in the eyelet, said stem having a flat transverse end which engages the abutment surface and said tool having a shoulder portion which engages the flanged end of the eyelet,

(d) and applying an axial force to the setting tool to simultaneously move the foundation towards the abutment surface and expand the opposite end of the eyelet in a radial outward direction to form a second flanged end.

2. A process according to claim 1 in which the fiat transverse end of said setting tool stem projects beyond said opposite end of said eyelet into contact with said abutment surface, moving said eyelet, foundation, and stem toward said abutment surface until said opposite end of said eyelet and said flat transverse end of said stem are flush with one another, and then applying said axial force as a blow upon said tool.

3. A hand tool by means of which a preheated eyelet may be set in a perforate foundation supported adjacent a flat abutment, said tool comprising a handle, a hollow casing having a flat end remote from, secured to, and aligned with said handle, a stem slidable in said casing and having a flat transverse end away from said handle, and a member normally urging said stem outwardly away from said handle, whereby an eyelet received on the stem may be inserted in the perforate foundation and set by manually applied pressure on the handle causing the stem to retract in the casing and the fiat casing end to push the eyelet against the abutment.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,632,227 6/27 Halsey.

1,692,182 11/28 Mayer 2l829 1,769,591 7/30 McIntosh 2l8l9 2,302,360 11/62 Waclawek 2l8-1 GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Primary Examiner. 

1. A PROCESS FOR SETTING AN EYELET HAVING A FLANGED END AND AN OPPOSITE END COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: (A) INSERTING THE EYELET IN A PERFORATED FOUNDATION, (B) SUPPORTING THE FOUNDATION OVER A FLAT ABUTMENT SURFACE, (C) SLIDABLY INSERTING THE STEM OF A SETTING TOOL IN THE EYELET, SAID STEM HAVING A FLAT TRANSVERSE END WHICH ENGAGES THE ABUTMENT SURFACE AND SAID TOOL HAVING A SHOULDER PORTION WHICH ENGAGES THE FLANGED END OF THE EYELET, (D) AND APPLYING AN AXIAL FORCE TO THE SETTING TOOL TO SIMULTANEOUSLY MOVE THE FOUNDATION TOWARDS THE ABUTMENT SURFACE AND EXPAND THE OPPOSITE END OF THE EYELET IN A RADIAL OUTWARD DIRECTION TO FORM A SECOND FLANGED END 